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#LHSDowntown: LHS students stage sit-in to support keeping school downtown (VIDEOS)

By Amaris Castillo, acastillo@lowellsun.com

Updated:
06/19/2017 01:15:57 PM EDT

Lowell High School students are encouraged Monday to write down reasons why they'd like the school kept downtown during a sit-in organized by a group of students. SUN/AMARIS CASTILLO

LOWELL -- On the day before two historic votes on the future of Lowell High School, more than 100 LHS students and alumni laid out the reasons for keeping the school downtown on bright Post-it notes.

"I want it to stay downtown so all students can easily get here," wrote Lily Faulkner, of the Class of 2019. "It is cheaper and supports my parents' business."

Tatiana Toro-Rios said the school should stay put because "Lowell High won't even be the same if it doesn't."

The mostly pink, orange and yellow notes pasted on two large boards Monday were used during a sit-in Monday outside the main entrance of the school. As the students gathered, one male yelled from an upstairs window that he was for building a new high school at Cawley Stadium.

Several more chanted that they were for Cawley as they walked by the sit-in participants -- a sign of how divisive conversations around Lowell High's fate has become.

Its not the first time young people voiced their opinion on the issue. During a recent City Council meeting, the children of both pro-Cawley and pro-downtown parents addressed councilors from the podium.

The City Council's vote to select the location and design of the new Lowell High School will be held at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the City Council Chambers at City Hall.

The 19-member School Building will meet earlier in the day, at 10 a.m., to recommend one of the five remaining high school options to the council.

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But with councilors expected to vote 5-4 for a new high school at Cawley, the building committee's vote is mostly meaningless. Although many eyes will be on committee members Kevin Murphy, the city manager, and Salah Khelfaoui, the school superintendent, to learn their preferences.

"I think the people of the city have been very local but none of the students have really gotten a chance to speak about what they want," said Sarah Meehan, a Lowell High sophomore and one of the primary organizers behind the sit-in.

"We just wanted to have everyone come together in a peaceful way to voice our opinion. Downtown is a central place for the city and it's very easy for anyone to access."

Like others at the sit-in, Meehan, 16, whose uncle is LHS graduate and UMass President Marty Meehan, argued that Lowell High is situated near important community spaces such as higher education institutions like UMass Lowell.

"You just don't have that at Cawley," she said.

Quinn Breen, 19, said equal access is the biggest issue for him with moving the school to Cawley.

"If we move the school, kids from other neighborhoods won't be able to access Lowell High like they are today," said the LHS alumnus and current UMass Amherst student. "The city doesn't have a plan for busing yet... we would have to hire a bus company, which we have to pay for annually -- millions of dollars -- and that's not really something we can really promise to sustain."

Ethan Imasogie, a junior at LHS, said he is for moving the school to the Cawley site.

"I think it will just be better for the students and getting a new building will be good to have and it will help with the cost of transportation," he said. "I'm really for it. I think it will just benefit everyone."

Lowell High students have been airing out their opinions about the options for months on Twitter.

"The facilities at this school are too far gone to be fixed," wrote one pro-Cawley user.

"I'm not trying to learn in a trailer for a year," wrote another.

Onotse Omoyeni, a recent LHS graduate who served as Class President of the Class of 2017, urged students to gather before the vote on Tuesday to show their support.

"It's really important that Lowell High stay downtown so it's equitable and accessible to everybody," she told the crowd of students. "As a public school that serves a super diver population, that should be our number one priority."

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